Intrepid raises $12 million, continues to grow

Intrepid Learning Solutions, the Seattle company that provides online and classroom training to Boeing, Microsoft and others, plans to announce $12 million in venture funding later this week. The financing was led by FT Ventures and included funds from existing investors Madrona Venture Group and Rustic Canyon Partners.

Intrepid, founded in 1999 by Christopher Hedrick, is growing fast. It employs 200 people, with another 100 contractors adding to the effort. Spokeswoman Heather Muir said that the staff will most likely triple in the next two years as the company expands nationally and internationally.

Intrepid is about as well-connected as a startup can get in Washington state.

Hedrick is the former technology policy advisor to Governor Gary Locke and worked as the director of strategy and operations for the Gates Library Foundation. Intrepid’s chairman is Jack Creighton, a strategic director at Madrona Venture Group who previously served as CEO at Weyerhaeuser. Other board members include Steve Davis, the chief executive of Corbis and former president of the WSA; Dennis Heck, chief executive of TVW and former chief of staff for Governor Booth Gardner; and Ed Lazowska, the Bill and Melinda Gates chair at the UW’s department of computer science and engineering.

Intrepid raises $12 million, continues to grow

Intrepid Learning Solutions, the Seattle company that provides online and classroom training to Boeing, Microsoft and others, plans to announce $12 million in venture funding later this week. The financing was led by FT Ventures and included funds from existing investors Madrona Venture Group and Rustic Canyon Partners.

Intrepid, founded in 1999 by Christopher Hedrick, is growing fast. It employs 200 people, with another 100 contractors adding to the effort. Spokeswoman Heather Muir said that the staff will most likely triple in the next two years as the company expands nationally and internationally.

Intrepid is about as well-connected as a startup can get in Washington state.

Hedrick is the former technology policy advisor to Governor Gary Locke and worked as the director of strategy and operations for the Gates Library Foundation. Intrepid’s chairman is Jack Creighton, a strategic director at Madrona Venture Group who previously served as CEO at Weyerhaeuser. Other board members include Steve Davis, the chief executive of Corbis and former president of the WSA; Dennis Heck, chief executive of TVW and former chief of staff for Governor Booth Gardner; and Ed Lazowska, the Bill and Melinda Gates chair at the UW’s department of computer science and engineering.